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Neutral Spanish: Looking for words/terms comparison
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Thread poster: Isaac Michaan

Neutral Spanish: Looking for words/terms comparison

Isaac Michaan
Israel
Local time: 11:35
Italian to English

Apr 2, 2009

Hi,
Does anyone know where a glossary / dictionary / directory that shows how a word/term is used in the various Spanish speaking countries (e.i. Spain / Latin America / U.S.) can be found?
the topics i'm looking for (but any other will do for now):
General [Fruits, Objects (Table,chair, glass etc.),
Animals
Automotive [Car, truck, road sign, driving license, driver, speed etc.)
Cognitive abilities, training, mind...

thank you
Isaac

Maya Gorgoshidze

Georgia
Local time: 13:35

Member (2004)
English to Georgian
+ ...

MODERATOR

Hi Isaac,

Apr 2, 2009

You can search in ProZ.com GlossPost

Also please see GlossPost FAQ

Kind regards,
Maya

Rosa Enciso

Germany
Local time: 10:35

Member
German to Spanish
+ ...

Do you know the "Diccionario panhispánico de dudas"?

Apr 2, 2009

http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltConsulta?lema=informarmaní.

It's rather general but sometimes it helps.

For instance:

Maní: ‘Cacahuate’. Esta voz de origen taíno se usa sobre todo en la zona caribeña y en los países de América del Sur. Su plural culto es maníes (→ plural, 1c): «Los crocantes son aquellos caracterizados por tener almendras, avellanas o maníes» (Salinas Alimentos [Arg. 1988]). Se desaconseja el plural Marca de incorrección.manises, propio del habla popular.

Good luck!

Rosa

Tomás Cano Binder, CT

Spain
Local time: 10:35

Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...

If you find it, I want it too!

Apr 2, 2009

The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas is good, but I don't think it's what you are looking for.

neilmac
Spain
Local time: 10:35

Member (2007)
Spanish to English
+ ...

Beyond the Dictionary in Spanish

Apr 2, 2009

... I seem to remember was useful, but I don't remember the author, having read it some 20 years ago.
Both English and Spanish have evolved considerably since then so maybe someone should think about compiling something similar for the 21st century?

Tomás Cano Binder, CT

Spain
Local time: 10:35

Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...

A daunting task!

Apr 2, 2009

neilmac wrote:
Both English and Spanish have evolved considerably since then so maybe someone should think about compiling something similar for the 21st century?

I completely agree, but it's going to be a daunting task which will require the cooperation of many people. I doubt a single person can manage to prepare a minimum comparative dictionary.

P Forgas

Brazil
Local time: 07:35

Member (2006)
Portuguese to Spanish
+ ...

jergas de habla hispana

Apr 2, 2009

http://www.jergasdehablahispana.org/

maybe this is what you are looking for.

P.

Isaac Michaan
Israel
Local time: 11:35
Italian to English

TOPIC STARTER

jergas de habla hispana

Apr 2, 2009

Thank you all
jergas de habla hispana it's pretty much what i had in mind...
any more suggestions?

Steven Capsuto

United States
Local time: 04:35

Member (2004)
Spanish to English
+ ...

The Multicultural Spanish Dictionary (most recent edition)

Apr 2, 2009

The "Multicultural Spanish Dictionary" (published by Schreiber) contains occasional inconsistencies but I find it very useful where food terms are concerned. The most recent edition fixes some problems present in the first edition. Each entry gives a suggested "neutral" term first, followed by a country-by-country breakdown of the other terms used.

As for "Beyond the Dictionary in Spanish" (which someone else mentioned), it's a wonderful book but doesn't accomplish quite what you're looking for. As far as I can tell, the latest updated edition of it is from 1981 (under the title "Cassell's Colloquial Spanish"), so some of the terminology is now almost 30 years out of date.

[Edited at 2009-04-02 13:25 GMT]

RNAtranslator

Spain
Local time: 10:35
English to Spanish
+ ...

Neutral Spanish?

Apr 2, 2009

In my opinion, that makes sense only within United States, where Spanish speaking people from different countries need to read the same Spanish written newspapers, documents, advertisements and so on. I is not necessary and, AFAIK, it does not exist a "neutral Spanish" for, let's say, Argentinians, Mexicans and Spaniards. Spanish is a language with different variants. If somebody needs to write something to be read in Spain, it must be written in the language variant spoken in Spain, and if it is to be read in Mexico, it must be written in the Mexican Spanish. Trying to make a "neutral Spanish" for the different Spanish speaking countries would mean destroying the rich diversity of Spanish language, unless you were talking about USA.

¡Salud!

Ignacio Vicario Esteban

Henry Hinds

United States
Local time: 02:35
English to Spanish
+ ...

Neutral Spanish, Revisited

Apr 2, 2009

If you want my opinion, the Spanish language itself is being destroyed in the USA. Well, I guess that is to be expected if it is not the language of the country. However, that is a subject for another thread.

One of the best ways for discovering different variants is to search for them in Google and observe the different national origins. After that, you will discover that in some situations, there is just not any good "neutral" choice; everyone says it in their own way, period. One way to get past this is to use several at once (example: cacahuate/maní, llanta/neumático/goma, etc.).

Another is to recognize that despite differences, all Spanish-speakers understand one another quite well and are used to hearing or reading regional variants. Don Francisco (Chilean) always does OK with Cubans, Mexicans, Argentines, etc. on TV.

It would be interesting to hear from people from around Miami to see how they deal with this situation in that multi-cultural Latin area. Here where I live you are Mexican and that's it!

Lucia Colombino

Uruguay
Local time: 07:35

Member (2007)
English to Spanish
+ ...

Neutral Spanish, cont.

Apr 2, 2009

Henry Hinds wrote:

If you want my opinion, the Spanish language itself is being destroyed in the USA. Well, I guess that is to be expected if it is not the language of the country. However, that is a subject for another thread.

Henry, chapeau!

I'd like to add that the vast majority of Spanish speakers from most countries will easily understand the more "cultured" variety of Spanish, so it's probably better to aim for a higher register than to downgrade to "neutral" Spanish which, as far as I've been able to see, uses words that sound like Spanish but the construction of the sentences is much too similar to English.

Isaac,

You will probably find this interesting:

http://www.fundeu.es/IMAGENES/revistaPDF/633366957095468750.pdf

Lucía

Henry Hinds

United States
Local time: 02:35
English to Spanish
+ ...

Cultured

Apr 2, 2009

Thanks, Lucía.

The the more "cultured" variety of Spanish is of course more universal because it IS the standard and should be used, but then we also have the problem that a significant part of the Spanish-speaking population, especially in USA, has a serious lack of education. So it is not an easy question to deal with. It depends on the target group. Ideally, things should be written for the target group, but then we do not live in an ideal world.

I have not yet been able to fully read the reference you provided, but I will do so. But just let me say that here in the USA it can also be said that we have been deprived of a name (gentilicio), so if we just call ourselves Americans, well... that does not mean we are the only ones, it just means that we are the only ones without a name.

Carvallo
Mexico
Local time: 03:35

Member (2006)
English to Spanish

Piña (México); ananá (Argentina)

Apr 2, 2009

Piña o ananá, fruta tropical de la familia de las Bromeliáceas, llamada así por su forma similar a la anterior;
Piña, en botánica es la flor de las coníferas, llamada también cono o coco;
Piña, en algunas zonas de Argentina, Uruguay y Canarias, es el nombre común de un puñetazo o golpe con el puño.
En Canarias, también se llama piña a la mazorca de maíz.
En Perú, una persona "piña" es alguien con mala suerte.
En México, darte pura "piña" o tragarte la "piña" se refiere a caer en algún truco, treta o mentira.

Source: Babylon, version 7.0.0

Might help.

[Edited at 2009-04-03 13:48 GMT]

P Forgas

Brazil
Local time: 07:35

Member (2006)
Portuguese to Spanish
+ ...

Variación léxica del español en el mundo

Apr 3, 2009

Hi,

You can see also Variación léxica del español en el mundo, a very complete Japanese project.

It has an English index.

http://gamp.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~ueda/varilex/

P.